January 28, 2003

Dear Brethren,

The work here continues to be blessed and continues to grow on almost every front. Our attendance at First Baptist Church has not really grown, since we are usually at the maximum capacity of our building, at least on Sunday night. Our chapels around town are absorbing most of our numerical growth. Many of those who have been baptized over the last few months are from one of the 7 chapels that are scattered around the edge of town. In November there were 19 baptized, December another 22 and in January 27. We are trying and working on getting more people out on Sunday morning. Our attendance has only been fair and we still have lots of room to take care of folks in Sunday School. Our average for January was only 356.

We have now finished the new TV and video studio. Since Andrew arrived back in Cruzeiro do Sul we have been able to go ahead and do the things that were only dreams a few months ago. We built our own teleprompters. One very simple commercial teleprompter would cost at least $4,000.00. We built 2 of them for about $1,000.00. We have just about finished all of our set. We built new stands and tables for the editing workstation, switcher etc. The building is all freshly painted, new carpet on the floor and the walls (for better acoustics) and air-conditioned. We have already produced over 20 programs and lessons, since the conclusion. We still have some furniture to buy and don't have the DVD player and tape decks for reproduction of tapes. That will come together in due time. We are now able to save all of our work on DVD. Andrew just produced the first one last week. You would not believe how much time and work is involved to produce just one of these DVD's. Andrew has relieved me of a huge burden, by taking over the studio. Most of the time now I just have to edit texts, select backgrounds/graphics and sit down in front of the cameras for the recordings. Andrew takes care of the post-production. This alone takes some 30 hours a week. Video tape only lasts about 10 years under favorable conditions. In our humidity, probably not even half of that. They say that CD's and DVD's should last 100 years. No one has ever told me how they know that! We are now able to produce all of our own video materials for TV and seminary courses. It is now also possible to save them in a stable format and reproduce them at any time without loss of quality. As I write this letter, Andrew is in the studio working on the second DVD. Thanks to all of you who gave so generously toward this project. We have been working on it for over 10 years and it is now fully functional. We are on 2 local TV broadcasts and are making our own materials for training our workers out in the field. Thanks again. You are getting the gospel to those who would not hear through other means and are training Brazilian missionaries to carry the gospel through this project. Your donations are working.

Occasionally there is a little bad news along the way. On our return to Brazil (we were in the States for our daughter Monica's wedding and bring Andrew and family back down to work with us) we were charged almost $4,000.00 in customs. Since this had never happened to us, it was a blow to say the least. The very same day we arrived we had a car accident. Since insurance is non existent here in Cruzeiro do Sul, we ended up paying for all the repairs. Even though the accident was not our fault we paid for the repair of the other guy's car and ours, too. Don't even ask! Just remember this is way south of the border and it is better just to fix the other guy's car and be finished with it. All of that took 3 months and another $2,000.00. After hearing about the ordeals that Mike Anderson and A.J. Hensley went through recently I just feel that we don't have a thing to complain about! We are fine and recovering slowly. Keep us in your prayers.

One more reminder before I close: Andrew is working full time with us, but has no income. Varig Airlines offered him a job as shop supervisor in Rio Branco, but that is not what he returned to Brazil to do. Any offerings would be much appreciated. Thanks to those who have already given.

God bless all of you as He has us and then some. 

In Christ, 

Mike Creiglow

January 28, 2003
Dear Brethren,

About a year and a half ago a group of our members started a new project. They call it social assistance. Their goal is to promote events to collect food and clothing for the needy. At each event there is lots of Christian music and a gospel message. "Tickets" to the events are bought with food and clothing. They have already helped hundreds of people who are jobless, orphans, widows, lost their homes to fire, poverty in times of sickness, etc. 

At about the same time another group sprang up in the church doing another form of social work. They call themselves "IDE" or "GO". They take dental hygiene, haircuts, baths, toothpaste, toothbrushes, soap, Bible stories and other little things to small towns out in the interior. They travel once a month. We now have 2 dentists in our church and a lady doctor has just been saved. I baptized her and her daughter last month. This project was a spontaneous offshoot of our medical mission trips, which have been a huge success. We have sent 3 young women away to nursing school, one last year and 2 more just this month. 

Then about 6 months ago a couple from our church asked to start special team to do door to door evangelism in the outer neighborhoods of town. They were trained by my son-in-law Dauro, who is also one of our pastors here at First Baptist Church. Luis works for the National Health Foundation (Federal government) and has a college degree. He was saved in an Assembly of God church, but when he moved to Cruzeiro do Sul started attending our services. When he heard and understood the security of the believer he dumped the Pentecostal heresies. Then he met Alcinete here at church. They gathered and trained a group of young people to work with them in house to house evangelism. On one weekend recently they were in 16 homes, witnessed to over 50 people and 7 were saved. 

Two months ago I dropped a hint to the leaders of the 3 groups I just described in the 3 paragraphs above. My hint was as follows: "What if we were to take all 3 teams into a poor section of town, take the gospel door to door (evangelism team), bring the neighborhood to our chapel to take care of their teeth, hair etc. plus more gospel (IDE team), then close the day with a service and soup for the whole neighborhood (Social Assistance team)?" What do you know, they took my hint seriously! We held the first joint project at Cruzeirinho on December 21, 2002. This section of town is very poor, drug ridden and overflowing with little kids. Well it was one fun day. It was a challenge trying to "preach" to over 200 little children sitting around me on the concrete floor. There were over 100 adults present, too. We plan to try to do this in a different section of town at least once a month.

This month I have been to Thaumaturgo and the upper Tejo River. We have a new missionary couple at Thaumaturgo: Emerson and Flávia. The former missionary who we sent there 9 years ago is now in seminary in southern Brazil. He, José Maia, plans to work with Indians and needs special training. Emerson has already done a great job and it is pleasing to see a young couple that has been trained directly in our home church going about the work just as they have been trained. I went to the upper Tejo to look for another location for an air strip. All the terrain up there is so hilly that we have not quite found the ideal spot yet.

Andrew also has made two river trips. He went to Thaumaturgo last month for the anniversary meeting. I was unable to go because the event I described earlier in my letter. While there, he and 2 of our other workers went up to the mouth of the Tejo River where they visited and witnessed in every house. We do not have a work in that village. There were 23 professions of faith. Seven more were saved during the conference at Thaumaturgo. His other trip was with Pastor Ernesto to another village that we don't yet have a work. There are over 50 families at Tracoá, but they are pretty scattered. There were 85 in services though and a few profession of faith. The guys went up river in my boat for 2 hours then hiked inland for almost 2 more hours to the location that they held services.

Thanks to all who help support the work here with your funds and prayers. God bless all of you.

In Christ, 
Mike Creiglow

Dedication of new building at Foz do Breu on the Peruvian border.